From Russia with lust

Elle Fanning returns as the scandalous Catherine the Great in the rip-roaring retelling of Russian history

The first series of The Great proved to be by some distance the most riproaring retelling of Russian history since Boney M sang Rasputin. Here was the sensational saga of Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning, right) and her ascent to power after arriving as an ingénue aristocrat from Germany, but told as never before.

The bare facts of the story proved to be just the starting point for a deliciously frenetic farce laced with generous portions of black humour and shamelessly anachronistic dialogue, not to mention a cheerful disregard for actual historical events.

Against the backdrop of busy bedhopping and murderous politics in the court of 18th Century St Petersburg, Nicholas Hoult (right) chewed every inch of the scenery with an irresistibly over-the-top performance as Catherine’s wickedly unfaithful and devious husband, Tsar Peter.

Behind the camera is the writing genius of the show’s creator, Tony McNamara, who similarly plumbed British royal history to create an Oscar-winning part for Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in The Favourite.

Now The Great returns, and though it might have seemed impossible, the dial for breakneck pace and outrageous comedy has been turned up to an even higher pitch. As the ten-part season begins, the court is again in a state of tumult. Catherine is heavily pregnant but at war with Peter and determined to seize control of Russia, while mourning her murdered lover Leo. She muses: ‘I’ve never done a coup before.’

Meanwhile the egocentric and irresponsible Peter is partying away with scant regard to the threat his wife poses, telling his worried advisers dismissively: ‘She’s just a woman – weak of mind and firm of breast.’

You don’t need to be a scholar of Russian history to know which way events will go and who will win control – after all, there’s a very good reason that history remembers the Tsarina as Catherine the Great – but McNamara’s gift for compelling storytelling means that you can never quite guess what twists lie ahead in the engrossing love-hate relationship between the couple.

Look out for the charismatic

Gillian Anderson as Catherine’s mother Joanna, a woman who has almost nothing to offer in the way of maternal love but is second to none when it comes to the darkest arts of self-serving, Machiavellian court politics.